


No One Can Resist Christmas

by Azidy



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, First Kiss, Fluff and Angst, Love Confessions, M/M, Misunderstandings, Oblivious, Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-27 08:03:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17158292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Azidy/pseuds/Azidy
Summary: “It's Christmas!” Rin yelled out, not at all bothered by Sousuke's lack of holiday spirit and already unpacking another box of decorations that the brunet believed simply couldn't fit into their tiny room.“It's December 1st.”“Exactly! I'm so glad the boxes came in time! I told my mother to send them weeks ago but she forgot so they just arrived today, but luckily I don't have to go anywhere for a few more hours and I could have most of it done by the end of the week and-““Boxes? Rin, how many boxes did she send?”“Not that many, like five or something. It was a pain getting all of them up here, let me tell you. But it's all worth it! Doesn't it look great?” Rin's face turned into a giant smile that completely swallowed his eyes, the kind that only little kids are able to pull off, the sheer expression of joy. And seeing it on a grown man (he had to remind himself how they were both technically adults, but then again, one of them was hanging Christmas lights for the past few hours so it was all slightly questionable) had an impact on Sousuke that he couldn't quite understand. But the uneasiness in his stomach told him it wasn't a good sign.





	No One Can Resist Christmas

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LindenTeaWithHoney](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LindenTeaWithHoney/gifts).



> This is just a short and innocent fic about Sou and Rin that was written as a part of a Christmas-themed fanfic challenge between me and my girlfriend. She gave me the couple and short instructions on the topic and this is what came out of it! Hope you enjoy it! :) <3

Sousuke opened the doors to his dorm room in a hurry, the action he had repeated multiple times over the past couple of months since he had moved to Tokyo. The building it was located in was just across the street from his college, which also meant he made a habit of running to and from said room in between lectures to grab a bite to eat from the fridge or take a quick shower in order to stop himself from dozing off. 

That was why when he had pushed the key into the doorknob and flung the doors open in one swift move, his mind was filled with thoughts of cold water giving his body a needed hint to wake up and pay attention. He was already in the process of flinging his half-empty backpack onto the floor and grabbing some fresh clothes and a towel from his closet, when his eyes landed on the newest addition to his room.

What used to be a small, very much cramped and not at all luxurious dorm room consisting of a pair of exceptionally small beds, two desks with matching uncomfortable chairs and closets and shelves lining the walls on both sides. That was it. Or at least, that's how it had been like the morning he left for college.

Right now, on the other hand, half of the boring and bland white surfaces of every piece of furniture in the room (not to mention the white, hospital-like walls) were covered in sparkly lights of a million different colours. Blinking lights. Very bright, blinking lights. Reds and yellows and blues and all the rest, making his boring and bland room (that he had very much gotten used to) into a perfectly lit nightclub on a Friday night. Just as cramped and difficult to manoeuvre in, but now with the addition of some disco lights in the shape of, what he managed to piece together, were actually miles of Christmas lights going from his closet, all over the edges of his shelves, around the small window in the middle, all the way towards his roommate's side of the room in pretty much a symmetric pattern.

He dropped his backpack (sort of absentmindedly), completely forgetting about his urge to shower and, quite frankly, feeling more than awake. He almost laughed at the first thought that rushed through his brain - _Did someone break in? -_ and looked at the carefully placed pieces of duct tape that held the monstrosity in place, each of them placed right in-between the little lights. No, it wasn't a break in. This isn't some prank someone would pull. This was too clean and organised for something like that. Which meant it had to be-

“Oh, hey, you're back! Do you like it? I really like it. I think it's great! Did you see how the lights change when you press the buttons?” An enthusiastic redhead walked by him and entered the disco room with, what seemed like another few metres of lights and various wall decorations for a two-storey house, not a college dorm room where they barely had enough room to stand in side by side. The newcomer then proceeded to press some buttons on a remote control which made the lights blink and change colours - and go in circles - and faster - and Sousuke believed he was going to get a seizure. 

“Rin.” He started, in his calm and serious tone, the one he used whenever one of his younger siblings misbehaved or tried doing something stupid. “What is all of this?” He stared at his clueless roommate who seemed to be immune to the harassment Sousuke's eyes were dealing with and was instead generally pleased with his work.

“It's Christmas!” Rin yelled out, not at all bothered by Sousuke's lack of holiday spirit and already unpacking another box of decorations that the brunet believed simply couldn't fit into their tiny room. 

“It's December 1st.”

“Exactly! I'm so glad the boxes came in time! I told my mother to send them weeks ago but she forgot so they just arrived today, but luckily I don't have to go anywhere for a few more hours and I could have most of it done by the end of the week and-“

“Boxes? Rin, how many boxes did she send?”  
  
“Not that many, like five or something. It was a pain getting all of them up here, let me tell you. But it's all worth it! Doesn't it look great?” Rin's face turned into a giant smile that completely swallowed his eyes, the kind that only little kids are able to pull off, the sheer expression of joy. And seeing it on a grown man (he had to remind himself how they were both technically adults, but then again, one of them was hanging Christmas lights for the past few hours so it was all slightly questionable) had an impact on Sousuke that he couldn't quite understand. But the uneasiness in his stomach told him it wasn't a good sign.

“I-I didn't know you celebrated Christmas…” The taller boy blurted out, more to himself than to anyone else, but the horrified expression on his roommate's face that followed told him it was a mistake.

“OF COURSE I celebrate Christmas! Who doesn't celebrate Christmas?! It's Christmas!”

“Uhm... we never did? Neither did my friends?” Sousuke tried real hard to think whether he was ever invited over to someone's house around that time of the year and spotted anything similar to what his room had been turned into.  _Nope_.

“Oh… You never had... Christmas...” Sousuke felt his stomach twist and twirl, protesting over something as he watched the joy evaporate from Rin's face. _Maybe he realises I'm not really that into it and we can take this down if we hurry up and I could still get to my afternoon lesson..._  
“Then this is going to be your first Christmas ever! Oh man, we have to make it perfect! I'm sure you have such high expectations! Oh no…. Did she sent me the tree?! Oh no! Where is my tree?! You can't have your first Christmas without a real Christmas tree! OH NO! I need to call my mom!” Rin's hands were already rummaging through his backpack before the other boy managed to even form a sentence.

“Don't worry! I got this! I got this…” Sousuke had never seen his roommate so distressed. Worried before a big race? Sure, Rin was sometimes a real mess right before a tournament with sponsors and whatnot, but Sousuke knew that a cup of tea and some cookies calmed him down immediately. Angry and disappointed if things didn't quite go his way? Sousuke has seen that as well, a couple of times. The first time he had gotten a little worried for the other boy, but he quickly learnt how the redhead simply needed to vent and yell and talk for a solid hour and then it would all be over. And of course, Sousuke always listened to him because he found it interesting how hard Rin pushed himself and always seemed to progress even more after each mistake.

But this… this was new. His roommate was all flustered and unorganized, already talking to his mother about trees and ruined Christmases and of poor Christmas-less souls that needed that tree right now! He could only pray that Rin's mother knew how to deal with her son when he was this way because Sousuke sure as hell didn't. Lost, confused, still blinded and irritated by the lights, his plan was to simply exit the room, close the doors behind him and run as far as possible. And also, to pray that when he comes home in a few hours, all of this would be gone and his room would be boring and bland and white.

But that's not how Christmas works.

 

Sousuke returned to their room quite late the following night, staying in the library after his lectures, trying to take advantage of the quiet atmosphere and neutral lighting that didn't hurt his eyes. Somehow, he knew his roommate was still in a craze with decorating and he needed the peace and the uneventful surrounding only a library could provide.

He stopped in front of the white wooden doors, keys in hand and eyes trying to pierce through the material in order to see how bad the situation was. But no matter how bright and flashy Rin's Christmas lights were, he knew he wouldn't know how much damage his room had endured before opening the doors. And so he did. And to his surprise, the lights were turned off, his eyes quickly adjusting to the darkness. He pulled out his phone and checked the time. 2:21 am. Rin was already asleep.

Whilst he was aware that Rin couldn't be awaken by a mere bag landing on the floor, he lowered it gently, picked up some clothes, his towel and some showering gel and went to take a quick shower, trying to keep the noise to the minimum. Simply because Rin was a pain if he didn't get enough sleep.

It reminded him of the first couple of weeks with the redhead, when it seemed like the two of them would never find a way to live together in peace. Rin was an athlete, enrolled in one of the best swimming programs in the country, if not in the world itself. This meant that the boy had to get up as early as 4 am every single day in order to have enough time to go for his morning run and still make it to the pool in time for trainings with the coach. Then he had some of his obligatory lessons on technique, followed by more swimming, gym training and team orientations. By the time his roommate returned to their room, he was completely spent and would more often than not fall asleep before 11 pm.

That kind of schedule seemed like hell on earth for Sousuke who preferred to sleep in and take as many afternoon lectures as possible. After those, he'd mostly end up studying in the library until his eyelids started closing on their own and he was in serious danger of falling asleep, slumped across an old desk and surrounded by a pile of books. And it still happened more often than he'd like to admit - the librarian who took night shifts already more than familiar with his habits and always waking him up so he would go home and sleep in an actual bed.

This is why when an energetic swimmer woke him up the first day at 4:30 in the morning, holding a protein shake and already warming up for his morning jog, Sousuke was sure he'd have to request a new roommate. And he was sure Rin felt the same when Sousuke tried studying under a small night light at around 2 in the morning, constantly having to turn on the flashlight on his phone and not to mention his obsession with highlighting every single detail with different colours. And if there was anything a law student had in abundance - Sousuke would say how it must be the books. Giant stacks of books. Plus the stacks of notebooks. And a pencil case full of highlighters and post-it notes and staplers... everything that is not at all for an exhausted athlete to endure two hours before he needed to wake up. 

But nevertheless, after the first couple of weeks of a lot of passive aggressive sighing, the lack of sleep and the inability to get all of their obligations done in time - it eventually wore them out.  Rin stopped trying to shove a protein bar into Sousuke's face in the morning and he started doing his stretches in the hallway or outside. And somehow Sousuke got accustomed to the libraries and quiet places around the campus that didn't include his room in the middle of the night. Not to mention that after all the training Rin had to do and all the studying Sousuke couldn't avoid, both of them simply passed out soon after returning to their room. And it worked.

But then it started working even better. Even though he gave up on waking up his exhausted roommate, Rin often times left him a snack or a quick lunch he had prepared in the morning. At first, Sousuke was sure the other boy simply forgot to take it with him, but the repeated occurrence of fruit and milkshakes on his desk in the morning made him think otherwise. Not to mention Rin even managed to get him out of the room during the weekend when both of them had some extra free time. Whether it was just for a trip to the grocery store or going to eat, Sousuke got used to his company. Not that he at all enjoyed listening about Rin's teammates and some annoying rivalry he had going on with some other guy, but it was a welcome change after reading about the Roman law for four hours straight. And somehow, Sousuke felt how some of his studying habits were rubbing off on Rin because he definitely saw some yellow highlight in the redhead's diet plan, but neither of them ever said anything about it.

That kind of peaceful cohabitation between the two very different people made Sousuke feel at ease as not much had changed in the months that followed. Yes - Rin still trying dragging him to some parties some of his swimmer buddies organised, but even that turned into a routine. Rin would ask and Sousuke would immediately refuse, knowing quite well how dealing with one loud and enthusiastic athlete was his limit. Just like Rin protested greatly at Sousuke's idea to spend Saturday nights at the library. It was almost like a tradition.

But this - this sudden onset of decorations and holiday spirits and God knows what else crawling across the walls that he couldn't see because it was too dark - that was just weird. Not that he was unaware how obsessive his roommate gets, he knew all about it - swimming being at the top of the list. But he was not at all expecting the other boy to go nuts on Christmas fever and take over the entire room, all of it, for his craziness. Sousuke didn't care for any of it, nor did he understand why Rin did. His family back home and the entire town in general, never paid much attention to the holiday. In his mind, it was a western tradition that didn't quite concern him. Not that he had anything against it, he simply didn't care. And he was going to say that as soon as Rin walked into the room, he was supposed to tell him it wasn't important and he didn't have to try so hard. But he didn't. Why didn't he say anything? He didn't know. But the blissful smile on the redhead's face, surrounded by a million blinking lights, was the last thing he remembered before falling asleep. 

The next couple of days continued in the same note. Sousuke would run back to their room in-between lectures, always finding his roommate digging through another box that appeared out of nowhere or taping another Santa to their closets' doors. In case he managed to get the room to himself when Rin was at practice, he couldn't resist the urge to scowl at more and more decorations completely devouring the clean white walls. One day the entire herd of reindeer jumped across the highest parts of the walls (he wasn't quite sure how Rin managed to reach above the shelves) and another, at least a dozen snowflakes made out of paper stretched down from the ceiling (definitely homemade - he checked after one ended up hitting his nose). 

At the end of the week, he was completely exhausted from all the books and notes and lectures (he even opted for skipping the usual study session in the library and headed for his room early). All he wanted was to lie on his bed and relax. If Rin was home, maybe they could watch a movie together or something. Isn't that what roommates do? Hang out? Talk about their day and watch movies and… Sousuke didn't really know, but Rin seemed like a person watching a movie with would be fun.

But when he opened the familiar white doors (they were slightly less white by now as Rin extended the decorating outside of the room and covered the door with a bunch of stickers of elves holding wrapped up presents), his eyes landed onto a human, wearing a pair of extremely tight sweatpants, kneeling down on all fours in front of, what seemed like - there was no denying it, it just had to be - a freaking tree. A Christmas tree, with even more lights covering most of its surface (he really needed to figure out where Rin kept pulling those out of). The unsuspecting redhead was completely unaware of a pair of turquoise eyes watching his every move as he bobbed his head in sync with the song coming from his earphones. And if Sousuke had to guess, judging by the cheery tone and English words he managed to make out, it was definitely Christmas carols his roommate was listening to.

Shaking his head and sighing in desperation, Sousuke walked in and headed for the fake plant taking up most of their walking space and tapped the redhead on the shoulder. What he didn't expect was the intensity with which Rin jumped into the air and almost knocked both of them down, pulling the end of the cords and unplugging the entire light show. They found themselves in complete and utter darkness, Sousuke's hands still wrapped around his roommate's shoulders in an attempt to calm him down.

“Sou! You scared me to death! Couldn't you say something?! I was ready to throw this tree into your face and I worked real hard to get it up here and-“

Sousuke exploded into laughter. He couldn't help it. There he was, as tired as humanly possible, just trying to get to his room and rest when his roommate turned their home into Santa's Village: College Edition and wanted to murder him with a plastic plant.

“Rin, what is all of this? I told you I'm not really a Christmassy person, you really didn't have to do all this...” He already felt his stomach protesting from all the laughter, but something about the way Rin tensed up underneath the palms of his hands made him worry.

“That's why I did it... I know you said it's not really important to you, but it's important to me and so I wanted you to see how great it is and how it makes people happy and-“

“Hey hey hey, slow down, I don't know what you're talking about. Rin... Why can we compete with a well-equipped store in terms of how many different stuff you put all over our room? And give me that, I can't see a thing.” Sousuke said, reaching for the cords in Rin's hands and getting on the floor in search of an outlet. The lights were back on just a second later, turning the room into a dimmed area with countless of tiny sparkling crystals reflecting everywhere around him. 

“I just...” Rin turned his gaze away from the other boy's face, occupying himself with fixing the slanted tree branches. “Ahh, okay... Look... When I went to Australia, to train? I didn't know anyone... It sucked being away from my family for months and I couldn't really visit them much. When I was there, I stayed with a family that took me in and they were extremely nice and supportive, but it was just so hard to fit in and learn the language and the other kids all thought I was weird for not being into the same things they were… And then one day, my foster family started decorating the house and they pulled all of these boxes down from the attic and started singing Christmas songs and I felt like I was in a movie. And then everyone in town did the same and all the kids kept talking about which presents they wanted and it seemed so... nice? And when I told them no one really celebrates Christmas where I'm from, they didn't just look at me like I was weird, they genuinely wanted to show me how much fun it could be. And I loved it! They let me buy all these silly stickers and more lights than any family would actually need, but I thought it was great. And when I told them we always had snow this time of the year in Japan, everyone was so jealous! I had to promise that even when I get back home, I'd still get a tree and make snow angels in the snow and not fake ones in the sand on the beach. And that I would get a tree and all the lights and listen to their songs and, most importantly, share it with someone else. And of course I got my entire family into it and it's been our tradition ever since. Because that's what Christmas is all about. And so I thought that if I showed you how great it could be and how much fun it is, that you'd feel the same way and you wouldn't feel so out of place here…” Rin said all of that without a pause and was now staring right back at Sousuke with his unique burgundy eyes.

Sousuke was at a loss of words. What he thought was just some crazy obsession turned out to be a story about his roommate's childhood, the kind that sucks you right in and you can almost see their 9-year-old selves, smiling brightly and innocently as he watched the other boys' jealousy over snowy Christmases. Something in the way Rin refused to look away and absorbed every piece of Sousuke's reaction intrigued him. This wasn't the laid-back Rin he had gotten used to, nor the one who sacrificed everything for his swimming career. This was a whole other side to his roommate that he had yet to discover, the one that told stories about his past and explained who he really was. And Sousuke had no idea how to deal with that.

“I… I didn't know. I mean, it's nice. Some of it. It looks nice. And it's okay if you wanna keep them. I just... I don't know? I just never really had anyone to celebrate something like this with so I can't say I get it?” He had no idea which part of his answer was wrong, but there was no denying it that there was something was very, very wrong. Rin turned away and started tumbling with the branches, pretending like there was still something he had to fix.

"No, I get it. You don't like it. It's okay. I guess it's just my thing then. I'll take them off tomorrow. All of it. I should've asked you. Sorry." He quickly flashed him a smile, the one where the lips are slightly curled upwards, but the rest of his face doesn't move at all. The kind that he'd use when they encountered a rude person at a store and Rin was trying his best to smile and play nice. But Sousuke knew how the other boy wanted to yell and tell them off and storm out. Or even worse, as something sparkled in the corner of the redhead's eye, but before Sousuke could say anything, Rin unplugged the cords for the second time and left the room and the half-blind boy to his worried thoughts. 

 

The next couple of days went by in a blur of trying his best to study for the finals but having issues concentrating for more than 5 minutes. Which only made him worry even more, the unusual feeling of uneasiness and waking up multiple times in the middle of the night, unable to recall what it was he was dreaming about. Sousuke felt like he switched to autopilot mode - hoping his brain knew which lecture halls to go to and that words be was absentmindedly writing down on pieces of paper actually made sense, because he barely paid any attention to what he was doing. What he did notice, however, was the absence of decorations in his room and the piled boxes containing everything that used to hang around the walls. That - and the fact that Rin kept stating he was "fine" but refused to be in the room at the same time as Sousuke. The already busy athlete seemed to be waking up even earlier than usual (Sousuke only noticed that because he kept waking up in the middle of the night) and staying out way past his usual bedtime. He felt like the two of them hadn't had a proper conversation in over a week. And it was ridiculous because their beds were literally one metre apart, the only thing separating them was the lonely and abandoned Christmas tree that seemed to be lacking all of "Christmas" and wasn't even a real tree. Rin couldn't even sit at his desk anymore because it was too cluttered with boxes (already taped shut) and therefore the last remains of the redhead's spirit stayed right there in the middle of the room, to remind Sousuke he was just horrible at understanding other people sometimes.

A few more days of that and the amount of work Sousuke had to do just kept piling up.  What used to be a stack of books at his desk, now turned into an impressive mountain of responsibilities. Which is why Sousuke found himself staring at the letters floating around his books on another Friday night. Studying. Sort of. What he was actually doing was scanning the entire library and every other student that came there to read and take notes in peace, but ended up being the target of one miserable law student. He pretended it was useful for his future career to observe people, figure out how they felt and whether they enjoyed reading that particular paragraph. Which also meant he was staring at random people like a creep.

The one that caught his attention was a girl sitting two tables to his left. Her long, perfectly straight black hair was tucked behind her ears, a strand or two sometimes manoeuvring their way in front of her face. She'd then use the pen in her right hand to move the hair back into place, without even looking up from the book she was reading. Sousuke had never seen her before (or at least not that he could remember), but something about her peaceful brown eyes and careful dedication stopped him from directing his gaze back towards his own studies. She lifted the pen once again, this time to write something down in a small notebook next to her, light movements of the object forming (what he assumed to be) a row of delicate letters in neat handwriting. The pen was lowered back onto the desk, still in her hand, rotating it slightly. And then he saw it. A small reindeer figurine attached to the very top of her pen - the one with the unmistakably red nose whose name he had forgotten but knew it used to be prancing across his dorm room doors. He growled, earning some accusatory glares from people across the table. _Why does it keep following me everywhere I go?!_

He gave up, packed up his things, returned the books to their designated shelves and exited the dusty, but warm library in need of some fresh air. He was greeted by a chilly breeze flapping his jacket wide open and sending shivers down his spine. Luckily for him, his brain remembered to bring a scarf and a pair of gloves when he had left his room earlier, giving him some much needed protection against the cold. But somehow, despite the harsh wintery evening, Sousuke found himself breathing in and relaxing ever so slightly. He started walking in the direction leading towards a small shopping centre, which accidentally meant he would be going further away from his dorm. 

For the first time in weeks, he lifted his gaze from his books and actually took some time to absorb his surroundings. The lamp posts lining the street on his left and right were decorated with sparkly lights, windows of each store adorned by figurines of Santa and his elves next to a small, but carefully planned out Christmas tree with various bells and gingerbread cookies hanging off its branches. The display screens on some buildings wished their citizens a Merry Christmas and happy holidays. Children of all ages pointed at different gift ideas on the street, causing their parents to look at each other and share knowing looks of affection.

It seemed that whilst Sousuke tried his best to run away from the Christmas of his room, the rest of the city more than embraced the holiday mood. Almost as if every single store, apartment building, every lamp and tree around him knew how to enjoy such a simple holiday - everyone except for him. And he couldn't understand why.

He walked around aimlessly, trying to figure out where exactly he could go. Returning to the library would do nothing but make him feel worse about his inability to concentrate and going back to his room meant there was a chance in encountering Rin with whom he’d have to awkwardly coexist in silence. How is he supposed to go back with the same determination he was hoping to have and feel like Rin was the crazy one? Because the more people and decorations he had seen, the more the bubble he had been living in started dissolving. And even if the walk outside did relax him, the iciness of the wind and the creeping numbness of his toes made him take a turn towards the mall and into its warm embrace.

The second he had stepped into the well-lit entrance hall, the holiday music reached his ears, along with the familiar lights and decoration surrounding him on all sides. The only thing on his mind was that Rin's collection of holiday joy wouldn't fall that far behind from a giant two-storey shopping centre - which was absurd and made him smile against his will.

He wondered around the hallways at first, looking at signs that promised the best deals of his life and tempted anyone with a full wallet to step inside and not leave until their bags were full. The thought seemed ridiculous to him - this unexplainable need to shop for needless things only because they were on sale. Those tricks never worked on him. But it seemed like no one else around him shared his immunity as people rushed and grabbed things off the shelves like it was their last day on Earth. He was practically the only person around not carrying bags filled with presents and instead dragging a 1500 page book that no one would really want to find under their tree on a Christmas morning. Or no one except for Sousuke.

It was a distraction at best, his walk around the mall, but one that couldn't stop him from thinking back on his small room and a redhead sitting on his bed, surrounded by boxes and bland white walls. Somehow their situation was so messed up that Rin was all alone, just a couple of days before Christmas and Sousuke knew he had practice until December 24th and couldn't be with his family before that. And here he was, surrounded by all these excited people and decorations and the Christmas spirit he still couldn't quite understand, but it definitely left and impression on him. He didn't know how to return back to the dorm and face a guy whose holiday mood Sousuke had basically killed for no good reason. Because all Rin had wanted was to share something nice and special with him, something that wasn't at all unusual for roommates to do with each other. _I'm basically the Grinch. I stole his Christmas._

Just as he pictured himself as the green grump, a girl with a bright smile extended her hand and offered him a flyer of some sorts. Her outfit might've looked ridiculous anywhere else, but Sousuke was barely surprised by her short red skirt and boots that reached her thighs, and instead looked at the Santa hat with two white braids farming her face. She was obviously promoting another sale, another store that tried its best to draw in more helpless costumers. And he didn't want to be rude and give it back, smiling slightly and walking past her instead, he wanted to crumble the flyer into a paper ball and throw it in the nearest trash bin, had it not been for the enthusiastic boy on the cover, wearing the most atrocious sweater he had seen in his life. It was red and green, the two colours taking up various shapes of the final piece of clothing that looked as if someone simply pieced together all the remains so they wouldn't have to throw them away. But that wasn't even that bad - it was the overweight character in the middle, with cotton taped all over his face and a red hat made out of paper that made Sousuke cringe. It seemed like the work of a pre-schooler that parents had to pretend was good, but everyone hated.

He stared at the man's white teeth and rosy cheeks as he posed in the sweater and hoped they gave him a bonus for looking so sincere. But the laughter that came behind him and words of excitement as two high school girls giggled at the photo and quickly agreed how they should definitely check it out and make their own clothes, made him look at the paper again. That was when he paid the description on the paper some more attention, learning how the ad was for a store that let you pick a sweater and decorate it with whatever they had in store, creating your ultimate “ugly sweater”. And even if there was so much wrong with that description for a guy like Sousuke, he immediately thought of another person who might go crazy over something like this. Before he had time to think this through, he walked back to the girl in an inappropriately short dress and asked her how to reach the store.

 

He tried not to think about how badly all of this could go. Instead, he tried to come up with a speech he'd have to do upon entering the room because he was more than sure Rin needed to hear it. The cold and the snow around him were completely forgotten about, not even the lights of the store windows caught his eye anymore. The only thing on his mind was to reach their little room as soon as possible and to tell Rin how he was wrong. How the decorations and the tree and everything else he had used to completely overtake his side of the room weren’t the issue. It was him who didn’t understand what was behind them. He should’ve asked Rin about it, but instead he just fled to the library and hoped everything would disappear before he came back home. So many wrongs from simply being so oblivious and avoiding talking to his roommate because of how awkward it would be. _Why would it be awkward anyway? Why would it be awkward to ask why it made him so happy? I’ve never seen him that happy…_

He skipped multiple steps at once, regretting being cramped up in that dusty library for weeks and not once taking the time to exercise. Then he remembered it was always Rin that dragged him to the gym so he wouldn’t become “one of those lazy lawyers that can only wear a suit” - according to Rin. There was just so much he had to tell him. He struggled to get the key into the doorknob, finally opening the doors and yelling out his roommate’s name, but… The room was bathed in darkness, the other boy’s bed empty. He turned the light switch on and glared at the emptiness of their room, nothing but the white walls and their desks and beds. Nothing at all bu- and that’s when it hit him. The boxes were gone. All of them. The lonely tree that blocked his view through the window – gone. Rin’s desk was as empty as ever, only a notebook and some of his sports magazines on top of it. Sousuke ran his hands through his hair, anxiously spinning around the room and trying to find any trace of the other boy’s presence. But it seemed like everything that annoyed him for the past couple of weeks, everything he had wished he could throw out of the room – all of it was gone. And how cruel was it that his wish came true a day before Christmas Eve, right as he wanted to fix it. Not only that, but at the foot of the redhead’s bed, there was half-open suitcase that seemed almost full. The sudden realisation of what was to come the next morning, of how his room wouldn’t just be without Christmas, it would also be without Rin – Rin, who was going home to his family, while he himself decided long ago he would stay in Tokyo because he wouldn’t be able to study at home with his siblings. There was no time to waste – he quickly opened his closet and stuffed the bag he had brought from the store in-between his jackets and ran out. Towards the first store he could find.

 

“Well I told you I can’t do anything about it. Besides, I’m going home tomorrow. And that’s it.” Sousuke heard the voices behind the door and the familiar sound of a key scraping against metal as someone tried entering his room.

“But Rin-chaaaaaan, are you really going to leave it at this? I mean, sure, he might not be the brightest person ever, but maybe he still car-” The doors were open before Rin and his company managed to finish their talk. The redhead entered the room tentatively, completely forgetting to take the keys and leaving the doors completely open for his two curious friends to pierce inside the room above his shoulders. And there was something to see indeed – the room Rin had left practically empty, finally sending the boxes back to his mother and almost done packing, the room he was supposed to only sleep in one more night and be on the train home tomorrow – that same room was now the epitome of a Christmas miracle. And the only explanation in his mind was that the doors he had opened were some sort of time machine gates or a portal to the past, because everything seemed so similar to how he had decorated their room only weeks ago. There were lights lining the window and the walls, Santa and his helpers all over their closets and even some reindeer figurines all over his previously empty desk. But the _tree_. The tree was just stunning. Completely enveloped in sparkly lights, not a single branch without some sort of ornament, be it a simple silver bell or a beautiful crystal ball that reflected the lights around the room. Gingerbread cookie ornaments, every type of present hanging on a thread, some glittery angels – an explosion of nothing but Christmas. And all of this he took in in under a minute, his eyes scanning the entire room left and right, before landing on a guilty-looking brunette who was sitting on his own bed and seemed to be waiting for Rin to say _anything._

“G-Guys, I-I’ll talk to you l-later, okay?” The redhead muttered, remembering the keys and his friends and the open doors, barely forming a sentence and trying to recollect his thoughts. Sousuke caught a glimpse of a short blond-haired boy with big magenta eyes that seemed to be whispering excitedly to a tall, blue-haired guy with glasses and a knowing smirk. The two boys were about to protest but Rin closed the doors before either of them managed to utter a single syllable, but there was an unmistakable sound of someone happily shouting and words like _finally_ and _he did it_ reaching Sousuke’s ears. But he barely paid them any attention, his turquoise eyes glued onto his roommate and awaiting his reaction. But it seemed like the redhead was speechless for the first time in his life. He kept turning his head around, his eyes growing bigger after spotting new details and unable to say anything.

“T-This is for you.” Sousuke awkwardly said, not at all according to plan as there was supposed to be an entire speech before giving him the present, but Rin’s eyes were already locked onto the bag with a big present on its front. Still completely mute, the athlete managed to move his wobbly legs and reach into the bag, taking out a neatly wrapped gift. He lifted his eyes again, almost as if asking if all of this was real and if the present was really for him and, upon given the nod from Sousuke, he carefully tore the wrapping paper and held out his hands to touch the soft fabric. The sweater Sousuke had managed to come up with was completely green, with a silvery garland glued around it, mimicking the decoration that he saw Rin put on his tree. It descended from the collar line in a spiral-like pattern, joined by multiple glittery balls in different colours.

“H-Hold this.” The first things Rin managed to say as he handed the empty bag and wrapping paper back to Sousuke, quickly followed by a shirt the redhead quickly took off over his head. Now it was Sousuke’s turn to open his eyes in surprise, trying not to stare at his roommate’s bare chest that showed every hour he had spent in the pool. But the sight was gone in an instant when Rin put on his new sweater and ran towards the mirror on their closet doors.

“I’m a tree. Sousuke! I’M A CHRISTMAS TREE!” Rin yelled out, his eyes and mouth absorbed into another one of his perfect smiles as Sousuke could not move a muscle and seemed more than content with watching his goofy roommate spin around in front of the mirror to watch as the decorations stretched all over his back. It was like a switch was turned on and Rin went back to his Christmas-crazy self, now finally able to check out their new tree and the small snow-globe Sousuke had put next to his notebooks.

“This looks so good! It looks great! I… I don’t know what to say… I thought… I thought you didn’t like it… And I took it all off and… I don’t understand…?” The initial wave of innocent happiness passed and Rin’s eyes turned towards Sousuke in confusion. The brunet took a deep breath and hoped the speech he had so carefully rehearsed in the middle of decorating the room would suffice. _It had to._

“I’m sorry… I was such an idiot. I just… I never really met someone who cares about things like these as you do. And to me, it always just seemed stupid to waste money on something you could put on a wall for a week and then put it back into a box for another year. I just… I don’t really care about things like those…” He was only at the beginning, but Rin’s face was already surrounded by darkness that no sparkly light could mask.

“No, no, wait! I _didn’t_ care about things like those. But then I saw you. And how happy it made you. And I tried my best to ignore it and just let you get over it, but you just wanted to share it with me. I did the exact opposite of what a friend is supposed to do.” Rin’s eyes shot back up towards him in doubt, but he didn’t make a single comment on a word that pierced his heart.

“And no matter where I went, everything was so Christmassy and I couldn’t get away from it because I knew I ruined it for you. I ruined Christmas for you. And I never wanted to do that. I’m so sorry, Rin…”

“So you went to the store and bought all of this and got me a present to apologise?” The redhead questioned him, unsure of how to think about their current situation.

“No, I… I don’t know… Everywhere I went, everything reminded me of you and how much work you put into all of this and your story… I want to know those things. About you, you know? I mean, we’re stuck in this room together and I don’t want to do anything else that would hurt you like that just because I don’t understand something. And we’re friends so you can tell me that. So I made you the sweater because I thought it would be something you’d like. And I bought the decorations because I knew they would make you happy and it was the least I could do.”

Sousuke’s eyes looked at the other boy carefully, as he seemed to be deep in thought and fighting the urge to say something. He was hoping for the best as this was the end of the practiced speech and he had no more surprises to share, but Rin didn’t seem content with his explanation.

“I never shared this much with any of my friends here. I mean, they all know I like celebrating stuff and how they’re definitely getting presents from me on Christmas, but I’d never go as far as decorating their house or trying to make them understand.”

“Yeah, but this is your room too, so it’s not like it’s just mine-“

“No, Sousuke, listen to me. I didn’t share this much with any of my friends. They know I like Christmas, but I never really told them why. You’re the only person I’ve ever told, except for my family.”

“But I practically made you tell me and if we weren’t roommates, you’d never-“

“WILL YOU JUST LISTEN TO ME FOR ONCE?” Rin raised his voice, but not in an angry manner as his face was all flushed and embarrassed that Sousuke couldn’t quite piece together what was going on.

“You are the most oblivious man in the whole world! I swear, you never see anything! And you wanna be a lawyer?! How can you be so bad at figuring things out when they include you?” Sousuke stared at him in shock and couldn’t figure out whether he should be insulted or what.

“This is not what normal roommates do, Sou.”

“It’s not?”

“Are you kidding me? You practically bought the entire store to make me happy for a few hours, knowing quite well I’m not gonna be here tomorrow. And you made a freaking sweater – _you_ of all people! You don’t even like sweaters! A normal roommate would just say sorry and let it go.”

“Yeah, but we’re kinda friends so I thought-“

“I don’t wanna be your friend!” The redhead yelled out, closing his eyes shut as he was too afraid to look at the other boy’s reaction, but Sousuke felt mortified at the thought of never again speaking to Rin and them only existing next to each other in silence because their friendship was over.

Rin exploded into laughter, utterly astonished that his friends were in fact right – his roommate was just oblivious. Completely oblivious. “Sousuke… I want to spend Christmas with you. I want us to decorate the tree together. And make silly sweaters together. And if you ever go shopping for ornaments without me again, I swear… Ugh, I can’t believe you’re making me to this… I like you. Okay?! I like you. There. Not as a _roommate._ Not as a _friend._ I like you, as a guy. As a guy I’d like to date. As a guy I’d like to make lunch for every day but I’m afraid you’d think I was weird or clingy. As a guy I’d want to introduce to my friends because they’ve all been listening to me talk about you for months but you never want to go with me. As a guy I want to bring home to my mother because she thinks you must be amazing for me to try this hard. That’s how I like you.”

Sousuke looked up at the exasperated redhead, looked at the way his burgundy hair shone brightly every time the lights blinked, the way his eyes were so full of fear and supressed expectation. And he mentally took a look at himself – at the guy who went Christmas shopping for the first time in his life and bought something he would normally find to be nothing but a waste of money. He remembered all the times he smiled at yet another note next to his milkshake, wishing him good luck at a test he was writing that day. He remembered how much Rin talked about his teammates and tried real hard to get him to join them at least once, but he always refused him. And he remembered the way his stomach twisted the second he had hurt someone he cared about, when Rin’s eyes were on the verge of tears and he couldn’t help but want to scream at himself.

“You really had no idea.”

“No… I didn’t…” He saw the corners of Rin’s lips curl slightly upwards, the way his roommate visibly relaxed and took a deep breath.

“I thought I was being so obvious and you just, weren’t interested. That’s what I thought. But you just… You didn’t get it.”

“Yeah…”

“I mean, Nagisa always told me I should at least ask you if you’re straight, but I was so sure you weren’t when we first met that I never really questioned it until recently… Wait, are you straight?”

Sousuke stared at him in disbelief, trying to come up with an answer he didn’t really have and Rin seemed to have a million questions formed in his mind.

“What, tell me! Like if you’re straight, it’s fine, I was just so, sooo wrong. But I guess I just never heard you talk about any girl either so I just assumed… Are you seeing any girl?”

“I’m not seeing anyone. You know that, I’m way too busy with college to hide a relationship from you.”

“Okay, but before? Did you date girls?” Sousuke gave another mute response which only made Rin freak out even more.

“You _never_ dated _anyone_?! So you don’t even know? No wonder you didn’t get it. Ahahaha how is this even possible?!

“Look, I was busy, alright?”

“For 18 years?! The minute you walk into the library, every single girl looks up and stares at you for like five seconds! And you never paid any of them a single thought so I figured you had to be gay.”

“Wait, what girls? What are you talking about?”

“I’m done. Quitting life. You can’t be serious. You – are HOT. Like really hot. AND you’re smart. Not just smart, _law-school smart._ You’re every girl’s dream. How are you so oblivious?”

“You think I’m hot?” Sousuke asked with a smile, making the redhead blush at the clumsy confession and earning himself a look at a red-flushed Rin which warmed his heart. He honestly had no idea if Rin’s evaluation of his influence on other people was correct or he was just being partial because of his own feelings, but whatever it was, it made his head spin and recollect how many times Rin made him change his shirt because “it didn’t look good”, but Sousuke thought it was just fine, especially for a day spent at college.

“Can you just give me an answer already?! I’m suffering over here?”

“I-I don’t really know what to tell you. I never really thought about it, about you, that way. I didn’t think anything we did was weird…” He was being completely honest, but couldn’t help but feel Rin would be dissatisfied with the result. He waited to see what his roommate would come up with, half expecting the boy to just give up on him because there seemed to be so much he had to think about. Instead, Rin nodded slightly to himself, obviously going through this entire process in his mind and deciding there was only one course of action he could take.

Before Sousuke came up with any sort of question in his head, Rin sat awfully close to him and turned right towards his face. The way the other boy’s red eyes looked at him made him feel completely paralysed, like the only thing he could do was to stare back and wait. And he didn’t have to wait for long as the burgundy strands of his hair kept inching closer and closer to Sousuke’s head, Rin’s eyes completely locked onto his turquoise ones and he forgot how to blink, afraid he’d miss something. A gentle hand found its way across his right cheek. He was able to feel its warmth and affection from the light touch that pulled his face towards Rin’s, but his own body had no control over his actions. Rin took this as an incentive to keep going, his nose mere millimetres from Sousuke’s and he could feel the heart urging to jump out of his chest. But nothing could prepare him for the moment the other boy’s lips reached his, putting just a slight pressure onto his mouth and lingering there for a few seconds. The explosion of emotions and thoughts was silenced during those short few moments, but as soon as Rin slightly moved away, his brain was overrun with a stampede of rushed attempts at figuring out how a small kiss like that could make him feel _everything._

“H-How was that?” Rin tentatively asked, pulling away a bit more to give his roommate some space, but if Sousuke could talk, he would definitely ask him to stay as close as possible.

“I…I… Awesome.”

“Awesome?”

“Yeah… That was… Awesome…” Rin’s eyes widened again, this time with irresistible happiness and his lips stretched out into his new signature smile of complete happiness. And Sousuke wanted nothing but to repeat the word again and again if it would make that smile last longer. But it was soon gone, just like Rin was, jumping off the bed and rummaging through his backpack in a panic.

“Wait, wh-what did I say, did I say something wrong? I’m sor-“

“NO! Don’t you dare apologise for that kiss! No! I just need to make a quick phone call and I’ll be back.”

“What? Who do you need to call right now?”

“My mom. I need to tell her I can’t come home tomorrow! I’ll be right back, stay there!” Rin was almost out the door when he thought twice about it, returning back to Sousuke in two quick steps and giving him a quick peck on the cheek that made both of them blush. “I’ll be right back!”

And he was out the doors, already dialling the number and explaining to his family how his oblivious roommate finally came to his senses – or at least that’s how Sousuke imagined it, unable to remove the smile off his own face and lying on his bed with his thoughts still swirling around his brain. The few short minutes it took Rin to end the call, he had been in such a blissful mood, staring at the ceiling and admiring the blinking lights that showed him the way to one of the happiest moments of his life. And if he needed to make ugly sweaters every year only to make Rin as happy as he had made him that day – he would gladly do it.

  


End file.
